For urban organizations
Interim HR: a senior HR lead while the seat is empty
When your HR person goes on leave, resigns, or has not been hired yet, the work does not pause. Payroll questions, terminations, leave requests and complaints keep coming, and California’s deadlines keep running. This puts a senior HR lead in the seat for as many days a week as the gap needs until your permanent person is in place.
What it costs
- One day a week: $1,400 a week.
- Two days a week: $2,800 a week.
- Three days a week: $4,200 a week.
- Four days a week: $5,600 a week.
- Five days a week: $7,000 a week.
The day rate is $1,400, set inside the $800 to $2,800 day range in published 2026 HR consultant rates and consistent with a Bay Area senior hourly rate of about $175. The minimum term is four weeks, billed every two weeks. Founding-client terms: the first five organizations to sign get 15% off their first engagement, through December 31, 2026.
What gets done
- The inbox: employee questions, manager escalations and leave requests, answered and tracked.
- Required deadlines: final pay, separation notices, leave paperwork and posting updates.
- Terminations and difficult conversations, planned and documented.
- Hiring support for open roles, including pay ranges in every posting at 15 employees.
- A written handoff for whoever takes the seat next, so nothing lives only in my head.
How it differs from fractional HR
Interim HR covers a gap for a defined period, usually one to six months, and keeps the existing HR work moving. Fractional HR is an ongoing role for an organization that does not need a full-time HR person at all. Many interim engagements end with a hire; some become fractional. The cost comparison helps decide which fits.
A fractional HR director, or a part-time HR lead under another name, stays on as the ongoing function. Interim cover ends when your permanent person starts.
What it is not
Interim HR does not include legal advice. When a matter needs an employment attorney, I say so and help you brief one.